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[Mbrown001]

Do pelvic floor Excercises actually work to help with bladder control.

I have a very iffy bladder. I can go quite a while between toilet visits but then I get to the stage that when I get into the loo I find it difficult to control. Many an accident  has happened. I have a slight bowel prolapse and have been checked by my GP who just told me that I didn't need an operation but to do the pelvic floor stuff.
I do try but I haven't noticed much difference to be honest.

How long does it take to notice a difference or is there anything else I can try.

Mrs Brown.

[MicheleMaBelle]

Yeah- I bought a little electric machine- a slender tone for your lady bits. Different programmes depending on you you needed to do. Does work but I've got lazy about the maintenance. and, unintended consequence- tightens everything up! 

[Maryjane]

You need to be referred to a women's health physio.

[Elizabethrose]

Are you on Vagifem Mrs B? It's sorted out my 'leaky' bladder: I pee much much less frequently now, rarely get up in the night and don't have to wear panty liners anymore. The difference in 6 months is amazing! x

[Mbrown001]

I was for quite a while but the GP took me off them and said I didn't need both HRT patches and also Vagifem.
I have got some that I think are in date that my mother had. I never put two and two together but now you have mentioned it Elizabethrose the light bulb moment has arrived.
Thing is, once I've used up the ones I have got how do I get the GP to prescribe more.
I think I mentioned they want me on half a patch a week already which most definately did not work.

Time to try yet another GP I think.

Why do they make things so very hard.

Mrs Brown

[Elizabethrose]

If I were you I'd get prepared to go into battle, prepare well!

Check out the NICE guidelines, get quotes from Nick Panay and co., collate any quoted info from docs on here, search for any info posted from Dr Curry. Then photocopy the whole darn lot and prepare a presentation.

Go in politely but with guns blazing like you mean business, present your case, dazzle them with your backed up knowledge and tell them that if they are unable to keep up to date with modern medicine that you want a referral.

When dealing with arrogant misinformed medics, firstly do your homework, secondly prepare a documented case that you can hand them and thirdly, dress to intimidate. It really shouldn't be necessary but sadly frequently is.

I have found none of this is necessary with good doctors, they know what they are doing!

Personally if the docs are completely lacking in menopause experience I would spend £25 emailing Dr Curry requesting that she write a letter detailing the current school of thought re HRT, being prescribed for as long as required, especially vaginal HRT. Then present that to the docs telling them that you have researched it all etc etc and that you are prepared to accept any risks they believe there to be.

Jeez it gets my goat! Good luck x

[MammaG]

I stopped my HRT due to panic a couple of weeks ago. I am not having accidents but am weeing every 5 mins. My heart goes out to you.

Elizabethrose, can we email Dr Curry then? Can we ask her for advice?

[Elizabethrose]

Yes you can MammaG. Go to the very top of this page and press the home link. Scroll down to 'email Dr Curry' and it explains it there. x

[MammaG]

Thanks so much, will check that out

[Taz2]

A referral to a pelvic floor specialist/uro-gynae clinic is really helpful. You will have tests to show exactly what is wrong with the bladder and then given the appropriate pelvic floor exercises to do. Not just how to do them but how many, how long to pull-up for, how many "winks" of the pelvic floor to do as this is important too if you are going to strengthen all of the muscles.

MammaG - you may have a urinary infection so it's worth getting that checked out. As we get older then, as in my case, pain is often not present just a need to urinate more.

Taz x

[Binbon2]

Mrs Brown, I can only echo a few other people and see if you can get referred to a women's health physio. I have a uterine prolapse and have been affected by frequency of urination for a few years. I saw a gynaecologist last year who referred me for physio. I was sceptical, but have to say that the information and help I have received has been fantastic. I have a daily routine of pelvic floor exercises to do. I use my phone to remind me to do them. It takes me about a minute or so for each set. It has helped with frequency. One trick the physio told me was to do pelvic floor exercises when you feel that urgent feeling and it can help to relax the muscles.

Thank you to all those who mentioned vaginal oestrogen. That was a light bulb moment for me. I have systemic HRT (Everole 50 sequi patches) but do still suffer from vaginal soreness at times. I have estriol cream that I use then, but don't use it regularly. I hadn't realised that the oestrogen cream can also help with nocturia. I suffer from disturbed sleep and sometimes get up every hour or so and go to the loo. I did have a spell when it really improved. I am wondering if that coincided with me using the estriol cream to help with the soreness. So I am going to use the estriol cream more regularly and see if that helps my sleep. Thanks ladies.

[Peacegirl]

Are you on Vagifem Mrs B? It's sorted out my 'leaky' bladder: I pee much much less frequently now, rarely get up in the night and don't have to wear panty liners anymore. The difference in 6 months is amazing! x

Oh wow, thank you for posting that. I've always been able to improve my leakings by upping my pelvic floor exercises until recently. Now it's not working and I've been so upset and thinking I'd have to wear incontinence pads at 57! Now I'm going to get an appointment and ask for vagifem!

[Wrensong]

I agree with the other ladies re asking for referral to a specialist Uro-Gynae unit.  Medics who deal with this problem are usually v sympathetic & used to dealing with ladies of menopausal age (so no need to be embarrassed).  As already mentioned, referral to a women's pelvic floor physiotherapist often follows & can be invaluable, ensuring you're doing the exercises correctly to get the most out of them.  In the meantime, you may find it helpful to have a look at pelvicphysio.com.   It's important to learn to relax the pelvic floor muscles as well as how to contract effectively, as inadequate relaxation cause urinary retention (incomplete emptying) resulting in the frequent need to pass often unsatisfying, small volumes.  In these circs UTIs become more likely and can lead to interstitial cystitis.   

Like Michelemabelle I use a muscle toning device but for a different condition; not specifically designed to help with bladder/PF probs, but for abdominal muscle tone.  However, I've found this too can tighten the pelvic floor on the day of use to the extent that it hinders emptying.  Took me a while to put 2 & 2 together, but I've found reducing the session to around 10 mins is less likely to cause probs. 

I have to remind myself from time to time that alcohol (sorry!) fruit juice, caffeine & anything acidic can irritate the bladder, leading to annoyingly frequent urge to empty.  When we're busy it's also easy to forget to drink enough, with the result that harmful bacteria are more likely to build up when not so frequently flushed out. 

Anything resulting in swelling of the vulva/urethral area such as thrush or BV can also make bladder control trickier & these conditions may go unnoticed if mild in the context of increased discomfort due to dryness/atrophy.

I agree with the other ladies about the value of topical oestrogen, but would just add that I often find my bladder feels irritated the day following application, though this soon settles and is a small price to pay for keeping the entire uro-genital area in better condition for the long term. 

The bottom line is that help is available, so please don't be afraid to push for it.  Good luck with the GP.

[MicheleMaBelle]

Hiya Wrensong- this is a specific machine for your lady bits. I bought mine years ago but a friend got offered one on the NHS to borrow. It's got different programmes depending on what you're trying to treat e.g. Pelvic floor exercises after having a baby uses a different programme to the programme for incontinence. You can even use it anally! Once you run through the programmes you need ( you can also use a mix) for the required number of weeks, you can then switch to a maintenance programme. It runs off a battery pack and I got the wired version which was cheaper but you can get cordless ones so you can use it and move around. I thought it was very good but I've got really lazy about using it. When I say tightened up, I meant everything down below. 

[Wrensong]

Hello Michele, yes I realised you meant a toner specifically for the lady bits - thank you for the detail, that sounds very interesting.  I mentioned the abdo toner as I found even using that could over-tighten the pelvic floor, making it difficult to empty the bladder.  It took me a while to work out this was the cause, so if others are using one & having difficulty peeing they may not realise there could be a link.  Perhaps not relevant to the OP's query, but as PF issues can cause difficulty emptying as well as difficulty holding on, the two were linked in my mind.  I'd wondered how the lady bits toners worked in detail, so thank you for explaining.